LIS 5263
Syllabus
NOTICE: This syllabus is subject to revision due to changing circumstances or student/faculty needs. Students will receive adequate notification through the course website when changes are necessary.
Theory of Information Retrieval
LIS 5263-01,-50,-70
Fall 2003
TH 8:00-10:00 PM
Location: WWW
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dr. Corinne Jörgensen
001-F Shores Building
Office Hours: 2:00-3:30 Tu
Office: 850-644-8116 Fax: : 850-644-6253
Email Address: cjorgensen@lis.fsu.edu
Class URL: campus.fsu.edu
Teaching Assistant: Richard Austin
rja02f@garnet.acns.fsu.edu
COURSE MATERIALS:
Text: Modern Information Retrieval, by Ricardo Baeza-Yates and Berthier Ribeiro-Neto. Addison Wesley, 1999
Other readings as assigned.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Development of theory of information retrieval (IR) for text and other formats, and its application in a variety of environments, from stand-alone to distributed systems.
Discussion of various query, retrieval, and knowledge representation methods.
Evaluation of retrieval systems and interfaces.
Emerging trends and experimental methods. Addresses additional relevant issues such as user interfaces, markup languages, and others as needed.
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED as a Prerequisite: LIS 5703 Information Organization. This is in the process of becoming a required prerequisite for next semester.
COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
(Specific learning objectives are included under each unit on the website).
The overall goal of this course is for the student to gain a general understanding of Information Retrieval (IR) concepts, methods and systems and apply this understanding in a variety of IR contexts
The goals and objectives of this course are for the student to:
1) Be able to explain the Information Retrieval (IR) problem in its various forms
2) Understand the historical development of the IR problem and the requirements for IR systems, especially the trend from stand-alone systems to distributed IR systems in a global environment
3) Be able to explain the general approaches to IR and how these apply in real-world applications
4) Conceptually understand the algorithms for information retrieval systems and recognize their appropriate application
5) Understand the applications and limitations of current information retrieval performance measures and other proposed performance measures
6) Be able to describe the evolving components of an information retrieval system, including metadata, markup languages, and other intellectual technologies
7) Understand the current state of the art in IR systems methods and interfaces for different formats and media and apply these to the needs of diverse groups of information seekers
8) Be introduced to the IR literature and to system demonstrations for information retrieval and be aware of newer experimental approaches
COURSE POLICIES:
PLEASE NOTE: many of these policies are necessary due to the online class format and the large size of some classes, making detailed individual attention to each student’s various situations problematic. Please feel free to discuss with me, either by email or telephone or by appointment, circumstances which may affect your situation in this class.
Email accounts:
You MUST have a CURRENT EMAIL ACCOUNT ON GARNET and REGULAR ACCESS to the course website (you should check the website and email for announcements at least three times a week) since additional information will be sent to you via email and announcements and the website provides a way to keep up with the class and communicate with your classmates. New materials may be added at any time; you are responsible for monitoring these and any changes that occur in course logistics, requirements, etc. Failure to monitor email and the course website is not an excuse for being uninformed about class activities and requirements.
If you prefer to use an email address other than your Garnet address, you are responsible for SETTING UP FORWARDING (http://www.acns.fsu.edu/).
Attendance:
Attendance and participation at all iChat sessions is REQUIRED as participation counts heavily in your final grade. Two excused absences are permitted during the semester. Excused absences include: medical (submit doctor’s statement), traffic accident (submit a copy of the accident report), jury duty (submit a copy of the summons letter), travel for work (submit letter from supervisor and telephone number for verification) and religious holidays as defined by the University. Barring exceptional circumstances each absence beyond the two permitted will lower your grade 1/2 grade point (i.e. a "B" average would be lowered to a "B-"
Assignments:
“Gradable work”: Please read this in detail, as it is very important. Each assignment that you hand in (with the exception of in-class assignments) must adhere to ALL of the rules in this section in order for you to receive a grade on the assignment. If you hand in an assignment that is not “gradable work,” that is, if it fails to adhere to ANY one of these rules, it will not be graded. It will be returned to you ungraded, and resubmissions are at the discretion of the instructor.
1. Each student must hand in every assignment. Each assignment not turned in earns an F for the assignment. Therefore, it is better to hand in work which may not be up to your usual standards and earn a lower grade than to earn an “F” – which really lowers your grade average (I don’t recommend handing in “less good” work except in exceptional circumstances though!).
2. Each paper must be demonstrably proofread so that it includes no errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, or Standard English Usage. Failure to use a spell checker (easy to detect) will result in the paper being returned with a grade of “F”.
3. Every paper must meet the minimum length requirements of the assignment. Papers not meeting the length requirement (determined by word count) cannot earn a passing grade.
4. Every paper must be clearly organized using section headings(and subheadings if necessary).
5. Every paper, and its submission, must adhere completely to the FSU Academic Honor Code.
6. Every paper must be, in its entirety, the original work of the student whose name is on the paper and who will receive credit for the assignment.
7. Every paper must be, in its entirety, created by the student for this course, in this semester only, and for the given assignment.
8. If you draw upon the published or unpublished work of another or of others, you must use quotation marks around any sequence of words, of any length, that appear in the original work. You must also provide a complete citation to the source of the quote.
9. If you draw upon any ideas from the published or unpublished work of others, you must clearly state within the paper exactly what portions of the paper are derived from such work. You must also provide a complete citation to the work.
10. Each paper must carry a header that includes the name and number of the course, the name of the instructor, YOUR NAME, the name and number of the assignment, and the date you are handing it in.
Late Work:
Late work is not accepted. Work submitted within one week (i.e. BEFORE the next class session or iChat) with a reasonable excuse (i.e. illness) MAY be accepted if this is discussed with the instructor BEFORE the due date; however, such work will carry a grade penalty.
Missed Tests:
Students missing tests will be permitted to take the test at an alternate time provided they have an exceptional reason for missing the test and can provide documentation. Travel for semester break or holidays is not a valid excuse for missing a test (or assignments). It is your responsibility to be aware of all due dates for tests and assignments and the official university calendar and to be present for all tests and classes.
Make-Up Work:
When iChat sessions are missed (with a valid excuse), students must review the discussion log and send a (minimum of 250 words) synopsis of the discussion and the key learning points to the instructor before the next iChat session. There is NO make-up or extra-credit work to compensate for poor grades on tests or assignments or missed assignments.
Submission/Upload problems:
Various systems (the course website, your Internet provider, etc.) occasionally malfunction when you are uploading assignments. If this happens, you MUST IMMEDIATELY send me notification and a copy of the error message in order to resubmit the assignment. If there are provider problems, I will need verification from the company. I will send you instructions on when/how to submit the assignment. Assignments may be sent directly to me by email to verify that you have completed the assignment on time, BUT it must also be uploaded to the system so it can be graded. If you do not save and send me the error message you will not be allowed to submit the assignment.
Note: electronic equivalents of “the dog ate my paper” such as “I sent the wrong file/an early draft/the paper without all the references/etc. by mistake” will not be accepted. As you are becoming an information professional, it is your responsibility to manage your files and submissions responsibly.
Back-ups
You MUST keep back-ups of all work submitted and all graded work; this is for your protection in case of system failures. Back up your work AS YOU WORK ON IT as well as when it is completed. Failure to have a back-up copy of work is not an excuse for not submitting work on time.
Incompletes:
Incompletes are rarely given and require substantial documentation as well as exceptional circumstances. Incompletes must have been discussed with the instructor by three weeks before the last day of class at the latest. In the event that an incomplete is given, the student must present the instructor with a schedule of completion for yet-to-be submitted work by the last day of class. All remaining work must be completed before the beginning of the next semester. If the student will be lacking a substantial amount of work the recommendation is to repeat the course.
GRADING/EVALUATION:
Work load:
On the graduate level, students are expected to spend - at a minimum - 3 hours outside of class for each credit hour in the class. Therefore, students in this class will be expected to spend 9 hours outside of class preparing for class, learning concepts, and completing assignments, among other activities.
Evaluation:
Evaluation will take place by means of a Midterm and Final exam, three short written papers, completion of weekly quizzes, and participation in iChat and online small group work, and posting to Discussion Boards as instructed. See the Assignments section of the website for specific instructions and due dates for each assignment.
Assignment/Test % of Final Grade
Midterm 30%
Final 30%
Short Topic Papers (3) 21% (7% each)
iChat Participation (1%/week) 12%
Weekly Quizzes/Syllabus Agreement (P/F) 6% (.5% each)
Discussion list posting 1%
Grading:
Completion of each assignment meeting the assignment criteria as described and meeting standards for graduate level work will earn a grade of “B” for the assignment. Only work that meets a higher standard (such as number of meaningful citations, insightful analysis, synthesis of coursework with student’s own research, originality and creativity, etc.) will earn a grade higher than a B.
iChat participation and Discussion list posting is graded as “A,” “B,” “C,” and “F” (no pluses or minuses), evaluating both level of activity and meaningful contribution.
Criteria for grading papers includes, among other factors:
Positives:
Well written, clear
Well-supported by citations
Citations relevant/good quality
Logical flow
Better than adequate coverage of material
Creative and or original thought/presentation
Negatives:
Errors in grammar/spelling
Less than adequate coverage of material
Not enough citations
Citations not of good enough quality/too “popular”
Arguments not supported
Broad or vague statements/language not precise
Not well organized
Formatting instructions not followed
Paper topic is not appropriate
Assignment instructions not followed
Plagiarism:
Students must understand what plagiarism is and its consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the resources on plagiarism available. Please be aware that I check each and every paper for plagiarized segments. As an experienced faculty, it is quite easy to recognize plagiarism, and there is software that helps detect it as well.
In this class, there are severe penalties for plagiarism. With the first occurrence of plagiarism, the student earns an “F” for the assignment. With the second occurrence, the student receives an “F” for the course and the incident is reported to the appropriate University authorities and a permanent record is placed in a student’s file.
Grading Scale:
Points on 100 pt. scale OR 4 pt. scale Letter Grade
96-100 OR 4.0-3.76 A
90-95 OR 3.75-3.6 A-
87-89 OR 3.59-3.25 B+
83-86 OR 3.24-3.0 B
80-82 OR 2.99-2.75 B-
77-79 OR 2.74-2.25 C+
73-76 OR 2.24-2.0 C
70-72 OR 1.99-1.75 C-
67-69 OR 1.74-1.25 D+
63-66 OR 1.24-1.0 D
60-62 OR 0.99-0.75 D-
<60 OR 0.74-0.0 F
ASSIGNMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES:
See the Assignments section of the website for specific instructions and due dates for each assignment.
Student responsibilities:
Students:
1. Will be present in class (or during synchronous times for web sections) and will exhibit appropriate class behavior (no extraneous conversation, no undue coming and going, on time arrival for class, etc.).
2. Will participate in class discussions and demonstrate knowledge of concepts from the assigned readings.
3. Will act in manner befitting a future information professional with other class members and the professor.
4. Will be responsible for knowing the class schedules, being prepared for exams, and completing assignments on time.
5. Understand that their primary responsibility as graduate students is to develop a deep knowledge of their chosen field and to develop skills appropriate to that level of knowledge.
COURSE ACTIVITIES AND OUTLINE:
General Class Activities:
Asynchronous Activities
Refers to lecture slides and notes available for download from links in the course website. Note that the lecture slides will often have questions in them or attached to them in notes fields; these questions and the topics they address are likely to show up in weekly quizzes and exams, so students would do well to pay attention to these.
Readings
These should be read as assigned in the syllabus; many will be available online. You should read all the items before coming to the iChat session for that week.
Synchronous Activities
These are the iChat sessions; you will be expected to have viewed the Lecture Notes, done the readings, and have completed the WeeklyQuiz before the iChat session. Bring questions and comments and participate actively; simply being logged on to the iChat session will not count as participation – participation is evaluated by how much and how meaningfully you contribute to class discussion and small group work. These sessions will contribute to your own knowledge building and prepare you for the exams. Materials may be posted to the website earlier in the week for you to work with during the iChat sessions; it is your responsibility to download these ahead of time. An announcement will be posted when new materials are made available. See "Student Responsibilities" for instructions on technical problems connecting to iChat sessions.
Weekly Quizzes
These will assist you in studying the concepts discussed in class. You make take the quiz multiple times; the quizzes are graded P/F for simple completion.
Weekly Topics:
(Dates in bold are class iChat dates)
Aug. 28 Class introduction and logistics
Aug. 29–Sept. 4 Introduction to IR and history
Sept. 5–Sept. 11 Data representation models
Sept. 12–Sept. 18 Classic IR models/text processing
Sept. 19–Sept. 25 Alternative IR models/Natural language processing
Sept. 26–Oct. 2 Evaluation measures and relevance
Oct. 9 Midterm Exam
Oct. 10–Oct. 16 Web searching
Oct. 17–Oct. 23 Information representation
Oct. 24–Oct. 30 Interoperability and standards
Oct. 31–Nov. 6 Digital libraries/images and multimedia
Nov. 7–Nov. 13 Human computer interaction and visualization
Nov. 14–Nov. 20 Semantic web and implementation tools
Nov. 21–Nov. 27 Thanksgiving
Dec. 4 Final Exam
ACADEMIC HONOR CODE:
Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor System of The Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the university community.
Note that violations of academic integrity include any actions that impede a faculty from evaluating an individual student’s progress.
Please see the following web site for a complete explanation of the Academic Honor Code.
http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/
Students must also view the PowerPoint presentation on Plagiarism, if not viewed during Orientation; it contains much helpful information to help you avoid “accidental” plagiarism. Please note that accidental plagiarism still carries the same penalties as deliberate plagiarism.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT:
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.
For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the
Student Disability Resource Center
Dean of Students Department
08 Kellum Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4400
(850) 644-9566 (voice)
(850) 644-8504 (TDD)
SDRC@admin.fsu.edu
(This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.)
SYLLABUS CHANGE POLICY:
This syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change as student and faculty needs dictate. Students will be notified of changes to the syllabus by email and online announcements with sufficient time allowed. It is the responsibility of the student to monitor all class information sources regularly.